Okay, I MUST say this before I say anything else at all because I have been trying to figure out for 2 months how to fit it into a blog post and I just haven't been able to. I love the dogs out here. I am by no means a dog person, but everyone in town has these HUGE dogs that they keep in their stores and walk down the street with. I'm talking about untrimmed mountain dogs, not these stupid little hypoallergenic dogs they've got in Philly. I'm really going to miss the dogs out here.
Onward with the real post. Saturday night after Brigadoon was another "After the Show" cabaret concert featuring the artistic staff - aka the people who don't like me, I mean, my bosses. It was actually a nice evening with some of my favorite songs being performed. However, the whole thing made me a bit angry. All of the artistic staff have been a part of RMRT for many years now and in between songs they would tell stories about their experiences with this company. The reason it made me angry was that they spoke about these life-changing times with each other and how they have such good memories singing around the campfire with the staff before them and so forth and I thought, why have they disconnected themselves from us? Why don't THEY come and sing with us or treat us well or so forth? They said we're the best company they've had in years, so why do they treat everyone like shit? Granted I get a lot more crap from them than many of the other company members, but there's a general feeling from everyone that we're treated like children. They tell us all the time that we should be thankful to everyone in town for all they do for us and we are! We don't need to be reminded of common courtesy and so forth. It's just frustrating hearing them talk about this beautiful thing when I don't believe it's all there. I think in past years the company bonded together much more than we have this year and I blame the people in charge for festering a sense of wrong-doing on all of our parts. Phew, I didn't word that as well as my feelings are about the topic, but it doesn't really matter. I'm done bitching.
I don't consider myself a very physically active/fit person but I've been trying to challenge myself while I'm out here. I'm really happy about it because it's given me a few experiences that make me believe I may actually miss this place. See, I don't want to go home regretting not making the best of my situation while I'm out here. What is my situation? Well, I'm working at a theater where I usually don't go into work until 7 at night and it's smack dab in the Rocky Mountains. If there was ever a time to pick up the hobby of going hiking it would be now. So yesterday I climbed a mountain to a place called Sky Pond. And despite whatever ill feelings I have toward the people I work with, I must say that it did, in fact, change my life. Just a little bit, but it was really a remarkable experience.
I went with Cat, Ronen and Kent's friend Jack. Jack spent 3 years in the army and I was worried that I would be a wreck on this trip but I did really really well for myself. Particularly considering that I've made myself sick once again. Bad cough. We woke up way early and left Grand Lake at 7:20AM (we were supposed to leave at 7 but we spent 10 minutes pounding on Ronen's door and then had to turn around once we'd left him and he called us saying his alarm hadn't gone off). Cat drove us on the scenic highway that goes to Estes Park and we parked in a lot near the trailhead and took a shuttle to where the trail starts at 9,240 feet. This particular trail had many different stops along the way and got progressively more difficult as we went on. The first section of the trail took us to Alberta Falls which were perhaps the most beautiful waterfalls I've seen since I've been out here. At this point there were still lots of kids and families on the trails.
We continued up and were able to behold the most beautiful view that overlooked the Rocky landscape. This is where we had our first major photo op and where I smashed my knee into a rock trying to get on top for a picture. I had to climb the whole damn mountain in pain but it was totally worth it. The going was still pretty easy at this point.
We kept going and we reached these meadows that were filled with colorful flowers. Running water flowed past us the entire trail. It was kind of like a movie, in all honesty. I knew places like this existed but definitely not in Pennsylvania. It was so neat seeing all the green meadows even at however many feet up. I kept my eyes out for eagles the whole time because I'd really like to see more before I leave here but unfortunately eagles don't come out on Sundays.
Right after we passed our first patch of snow we reached The Loch, a HUGE lake that looked like it would be a lot of fun to swim in were it not so freaking cold. The trail split in two here and you could go around to the other side to get a different view of the lake. Jack and I went to one side to get a picture of Ronen and Cat from across the lake and they did the same. Did I mention that part of my drive to get out and hike is to fill my vain desires to get pictures of myself in cool places? In the distance we could see The Continental Divide.
We walked and walked and walked. The trail had been getting increasingly steeper/narrower/rockier as we walked to this point, but when we reached the next waterfall, Timberline Falls, we were surprised to see that we would have to climb up these very steep stone steps to keep going. We climbed the steps to get closer to the falling water and it was breathtaking. Huge boulders sat at the base of the waterfall and you could get to them by stepping on smaller rocks which of course we had to do to take pictures. After that photo op was finished, we went back to the trail and were surprised once again to find that the steps hadn't even been the most complicated part of the trail to Sky Pond. The trail actually stopped being so much a trail and more of a rock climbing excursion THROUGH the running water! It wasn't like a billion feet up or anything, but I've definitely never done anything like this before. It reminded me of being at Camp Harlam and climbing the rock wall only with real rocks and water. It was so much fun!
We reached the top and I managed NOT get blown over by the wind which was so strong we had to shout to hear each other. It was also freezing cold up here. It was also one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Climbing over the last ledge we beheld another lake more splendid than anything we'd seen on the trail before. Sky Pond. It was incredible. You could look across the lake and once again see all the mountains in the distance. I'm a little bit sad that I forgot to make a stone pile because I wanted to leave my mark, but cest la vie.
We sat down and had lunch. After we were finished, I turned to Cat and yelled that I wondered how far the trail kept going because I'd seen some people continue past us. We looked at the map and realized that we were wrong and hadn't even reached Sky Pond yet. This was the Lake of Glass. Ronen confessed that he'd had an inkling there was more to go because he'd seen two lakes on the map, but he didn't want to keep climbing up waterfalls. Lucky for him the rest of the trail was nothing like what we had been on climbing up to the Lake of Glass. It was just a straight trail with a very slight incline. It was interesting because at this point I believe we'd passed the line where trees are still able to grow. There were still shrubs and flowers. It was funny to see all the greenery up there with the snow.
We made it to Sky Pond where we could look across and see this enormous glacier. This place was WAY less windy and it was very quiet. Mostly because the people who'd actually made it to this point were too exhausted to talk but also because of the lack of wind. We stayed for a few minutes to take our final round of pictures before we turned around to go back down. The way down wasn't too bad. My knee was really killing me at this point, but at least we were going down hill.
The four of us got the most fantastic Indian food in Estes Park for an early dinner and sat around talking for a few hours. I also bought myself a Baha, one of those hippie sweaters that I've wanted for years but never wanted to spend the money on. It was only like $18! After that we drove back to Grand Lake admiring the stars along the way. I'll be stealing pictures from Cat and Ronen shortly and will post them on biebs.shutterfly.com asap (Actually, I'm currently sitting backstage during a performance of Brigadoon, but I'll put at least a few pics from Cat's facebook album in this post when I get back to my cabin).
I mentioned that I'm sick again. I know that it's stress about leaving in 2 weeks. It's not because I'm happy about leaving and it's not because I'm sad about leaving. I'm still sorting out whether or not I'll be more happy or sad to go. There are so many things that make me unhappy out here like the stress of my job and the negativity in people, but I don't hate my job. In fact, it's really a pretty swell gig I've got going here. And it's beautiful and I'm doing things I've never done before that are making me a healthier person in the long run. I think I'm sick because it's change and I always react oddly to change. I must say that I'm REALLY looking forward to finally seeing my friends and family and roommate again. Speaking of which, I got a package from her today! Funny story, she and my grandmother both sent me the same exact Emerald Green nail polish.
I bought a new navel ring today and when I was trying to put it in I dropped part of it down the sink in the women's dressing room. In my frustration trying to get it out of the drain I slammed my hand against the pipe which shattered the ring on my index finger. Sad story, but I managed to get the other one out of the drain at least. This time in two weeks I'll be landing in Philly airport!
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